The Role of Electromagnetic Radiations in Cancer Development: A Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31185/bsj.Vol23.Iss48.1910Keywords:
Oxidative stress, Ionizing radiation, Radiofrequency fields, Carcinogenesis, Electromagnetic radiationAbstract
The increase in electromagnetic radiation (EMR) in our daily lives has led to scientific and public health debate about EMR-related human carcinogenesis. This review provides a vigorous overview of current literature evidence on the impact of electromagnetic radiation in cancer initiation and development throughout the entire radiation spectrum. Ionizing and UV (ultraviolet) radiation are unequivocally classified as human carcinogens with well-defined dose-response relationships and direct genotoxic mechanisms. By contrast, radiofrequency fields have been classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and this classification is still controversial; non-ionizing radiation includes even extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields till now. This review summarizes epidemiological evidence from cohort and case-control studies, biologic mechanisms involving oxidative stress, epigenetic changes, and neurotropic effects, and scans current regulatory frameworks that appear largely to be based on thermal effects. Quality ratings have shed light on fundamental methodological flaws, including supposed conflicts of interest and deficient exposure assessment procedures that prevent risk estimation. The review also identifies the expanding global population exposure to fifth-generation (5G) and projected sixth-generation infrastructure as an urgent global public health avoidance priority, which also signifies a platform for addressing evidence-based policy reform towards potential carcinogenic risk management consonant with technology advancement.
References
References
1. Benson, V. S., Pirie, K., Schüz, J., Reeves, G. K., Beral, V., & Green, J. (2013). Mobile phone use and risk of brain neoplasms and other cancers: Prospective study. International Journal of Epidemiology, 42(3), 792–802. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyt072
2. Brenner, D. J., Doll, R., Goodhead, D. T., Hall, E. J., Land, C. E., Little, J. B., Lubin, J. H., Preston, D. L., Preston, R. J., Puskin, J. S., Ron, E., Sachs, R. K., Samet, J. M., Setlow, R. B., & Zaider, M. (2003). Cancer risks attributable to low doses of ionizing radiation: Assessing what we really know. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100(24), 13761–13766. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2235592100
3. Cadet, J., Davies, K. J. A., Medeiros, M. H. G., Di Mascio, P., & Wagner, J. R. (2017). Formation and repair of oxidatively generated damage in cellular DNA. Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 107, 13–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2016.12.049
4. Cardis, E., Vrijheid, M., Blettner, M., Gilbert, E., Hakama, M., Hill, C., Howe, G., Kaldor, J., Muirhead, C. R., Schubauer-Berigan, M., Yoshimura, T., Bermann, F., Cowper, G., Fix, J., Hacker, C., Heinmiller, B., Marshall, M., Thierry-Chef, I., Utterback, D., Ahn, Y. O., Amoros, E., Ashmore, P., Auvinen, A., Bae, J. M., Bernar, J., Biau, A., Combalot, E., Deboodt, P., Diez Sacristan, A., Eklöf, M., Engels, H., Engholm, G., Gulis, G., Habib, R. R., Holan, K., Hyvonen, H., Kerekes, A., Kurtinaitis, J., Malker, H., Martuzzi, M., Mastauskas, A., Monnet, A., Moser, M., Pearce, M. S., Richardson, D. B., Rodriguez-Artalejo, F., Rogel, A., Tardy, H., Telle-Lamberton, M., Turai, I., Usel, M., & Veress, K. (2005). Risk of cancer after low doses of ionising radiation: Retrospective cohort study in 15 countries. BMJ, 331(7508), 77. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.38499.599918.E0
5. Coureau, G., Bouvier, G., Lebailly, P., Fabbro-Peray, P., Gruber, A., Leffondre, K., Guillamo, J. S., Loiseau, H., & Mathoulin-Pélissier, S. (2014). Mobile phone use and brain tumours in the CERENAT case-control study. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 71(7), 514–522. https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2013-101754
6. Darby, S. C., Whitley, E., Howe, G. R., Hutchings, S. J., Kusiak, R. A., Lubin, J. H., Morrison, H. I., Tirmarche, M., Tomásek, L., & Radford, E. P. (1995). Radon and cancers other than lung cancer in underground miners: A collaborative analysis of 11 studies. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 87(5), 378–384. https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/87.5.378
7. El Ghissassi, F., Baan, R., Straif, K., Grosse, Y., Secretan, B., Bouvard, V., Benbrahim-Tallaa, L., Guha, N., Freeman, C., Galichet, L., & Cogliano, V. (2009). A review of human carcinogens—Part D: Radiation. The Lancet Oncology, 10(8), 751–752. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(09)70213-X
8. Frank, J. W., Moskowitz, J. M., Melnick, R. L., Hardell, L., Philips, A., Héroux, P., Kelley, E., & International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF). (2024). The systematic review on RF-EMF exposure and cancer by Karipidis et al. (2024) has serious flaws that undermine the validity of the study's conclusions. Environment International, 195, 109200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.109200
9. Goodhead, D. T. (2006). Energy deposition stochastics and track structure: What about the target? Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 122(1–4), 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncl498
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 م.م. ابتهاج حسين علي وزارة التربية، المديرية العامة لتربية القادسية، العراق، م.م. رقية طالب كاظم وزارة التربية، المديرية العامة لتربية ذي قار، العراق، م.م. ليث صالح الهيتي جامعة الانبار، كلية العلوم التطبيقية-هيت، قسم الفيزياء الطبية، الانبار، العراق
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
